At YEMS respect is two-way

Students at Youngsville Elementary Middle School have found out respect is one of those things.

On Friday afternoon, Youngsville students gathered for an assembly to act as a capstone to a nearly year-long anti-bullying campaign.

“It’s treat people how you want to be treated,” Youngsville Principal Eric Mineweaser reminded students. “I think bullying has gone down, but it’s still something we need to continue.”

Students got a little encouragement to continue as the school teamed with the Youngsville Borough Police and the local Parent Teacher Organization to award students for their anti-bullying efforts.

Awards were given for recent essay contests. Students in grades two through five tackled the topic of “What is a bully?”, while middle school students explained “How I can prevent bullying”. Essay contest winners included; second grade students Lydia Camp and Brandon Sutton; third grade students Halee Mineweaser, Mia Rafalski and Savannah Upton; fourth grade students Lyddia Rougeux and Kassidy Turner; fifth grade students Annika Chase, Becca Emple and Ashley Martin; sixth grade student Taylor Brown and seventh grade student Alexis Fitzgerald.

According to Youngsville Police Chief Todd Mineweaser, who spoke at the school on bullying and helped choose essay winners, “A lot of them have been bullied a wrote about their own experiences. Some of it was really heartbreaking.”